Responses of upland herpetofauna to the restoration of Carolina Bays and thinning of forested Bay Margins.
- USDA Forest Service, Savannah River
Research on the effects of wetland restoration on reptiles and amphibians is becoming more common, but almost all of these studies have observed the colonization of recently disturbed habitats that were completely dry at the time of restoration. In a similar manner, investigations herpetofaunal responses to forest management have focused on clearcuts, and less intensive stand manipulations are not as well studied. To evaluate community and population responses of reptiles and amphibians to hydrology restoration and canopy removal in the interior of previously degraded Carolina bays, I monitored herpetofauna in the uplands adjacent to six historically degraded Carolina bays at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for four years after restoration. To evaluate the effects of forest thinning on upland herpetofauna, forests were thinned in the margins of three of these bays. I used repeated measures ANOVA to compare species richness and diversity and the abundance of selected species and guilds between these bays and with those at three reference bays that were not historically drained and three control bays that remained degraded. I also used Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) to look for community-level patterns based treatments.
- Research Organization:
- USDA Forest Service, Savannah River, New Ellenton, SC
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI09-00SR22188
- OSTI ID:
- 953635
- Report Number(s):
- na; 08-13-T
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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